We are up to Isaiah 37.
I had mentioned to you last week that Isaiah 36, 37, 38, 39,
this is probably the easiest chapters of the book of Isaiah
because it's just a historical retelling,
very similar to events that we will see play out in
the books of Kings, the book of Chronicles.
Obviously we're used to those books being very historical.
So when we're just reading about this happened, that happened,
this king reigned, that king reigned,
that's kind of easier to follow.
But of course when Isaiah is preaching great prophecies
and that cryptic language and you're trying to figure things out,
sometimes it's not very clear,
that can be quite challenging to work through.
So these are, like I said, still we're on the easiest
or easier chapters of the book of Isaiah.
And if you just look at verse number four there,
in Isaiah 37 verse number four,
it says it may be that the Lord thy God
will hear the words of Rapture Key,
whom the king of Assyria his master
have sent to reproach the living God,
and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God have heard.
Wherefore lift up thy prayer.
That's where I want to take the sermon title from.
Lift up your prayer.
Lift up your prayer is the title for the sermon tonight.
And in this chapter we have King Hezekiah
going before God or at least desiring for prayers
to be made to God twice in this chapter.
Because you may recall, if you just want to go back to chapter 36,
Isaiah 36, you may recall that the king of Assyria,
the army of Assyria was causing great havoc,
threatening a great siege on the city of Jerusalem.
And, you know, King Hezekiah is sending his best men,
his ambassadors, if you will,
to try to make an agreement with the army of Assyria.
But they're making it very public,
they're making it very clear that, you know,
very prideful that they're going to come and take over the city.
And it ends in verse number 22 in that chapter,
Isaiah 36, 22.
It says, Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah,
that was over the household, and Shebna, the scribe, and Joah,
the son of Asaph, the recorder,
to Hezekiah, with their close rent,
and told him the words of Rabshiqui,
Rabshiqui being the general of the Assyrian army there.
And so, we have these three loyal ambassadors, if you will,
of King Hezekiah.
They come and their clothes are ripped,
and we know that in this time,
they will do that as a sign of distress and sorrow
and woes and burdens.
And so they come to King Hezekiah going,
man, look, you know, the king of Assyria,
he's just, he's got one mind, he wants to wipe us out.
They're feeding us with a siege,
this is going to be very difficult.
And so we pick up the story there, continuing there,
in Isaiah 37, verse number 1,
which says, And it came to pass,
when King Hezekiah heard it,
that's from his three, you know, ambassadors,
that he rent his clothes,
and covered himself with sackcloth,
and went into the house of the Lord.
So he does the same thing, he rips his clothes,
he puts on sackcloth,
like the idea that sackcloth and ashes
in the Old Testament times,
sorrow, mourning, weeping.
And what I love most about verse number 1,
is that even though he's of great distress,
where does he go?
The house of the Lord, he goes to church, all right?
Now, of course, that's the temple in the Old Testament days,
but the house of the Lord in the New Testament
is your local church.
And I don't know about you, but, you know,
life throws all kinds of curve balls at you.
And sometimes when you're very distressed,
and you're very disheartened, sad,
burdened, stressed, you know,
it's probably the last place
you kind of want to go sometimes is to church.
I don't know about you, I like,
you know, it's like, oh, man, I just,
I don't know, you just feel cast down,
you just don't have the energy
to pick yourself up and go to
the house of the Lord necessarily,
but what I want to encourage you, brethren,
is that the best place to be
when you're downcast is church.
It's the best place to be.
It's the best place to be
when you're excited, and you're on fire,
and zealous for God,
but it's also the best place to be
when you're downcast,
and you just don't want to be there.
Part of you doesn't want to be there.
King Hezekiah, he sets a really good example.
He realizes there's nowhere else
that I can really go, like,
where else am I going to be uplifted?
Where else can I, you know,
express my sadness and, you know,
get this off my chest?
He says the best place for me to go
is to the house of the Lord.
So, you know, come to church
even when you're feeling miserable.
Come to church even when you don't feel like it,
because, you know, that is where
God would want you to be.
And many times, God's answers
are going to be found in the house of the Lord.
You might be praying to God.
Say, God, I need an answer to this situation.
I need you to come through,
and I need your counsel.
I need your advice, and, you know,
you're downcast, and you're like,
ah, I just can't make it to church,
but you don't know.
Maybe the Lord God's put upon
the heart of the preacher
to address your questions,
to give you direction,
and then you're like, ah,
I just can't make it to church,
and then you miss out on the answer
that you've been praying for.
Many times, you know,
that is the way God answers our questions,
I should say, sorry,
is by putting upon the heart of the preacher
to give you a response.
And there in verse number two it says,
And he sent a lycim
who was over the household,
and Shebna the scribe,
and the elders of the priests
covered with sackcloth,
unto Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amos.
So he goes, you know what,
not only do I want to be at church,
we need to hear from the man of God, he says.
Can you go get Isaiah?
We want to hear what Isaiah has to say.
And so he sends Shebna and Eliakim
and the elders of the priests,
he sends other men
to go and fetch Isaiah.
Can you come and talk to us,
come to the house of God?
We need to hear what God has to say.
And again, that's not a bad response.
Like I said,
let's go and listen to the preacher.
Let's go to the house of the Lord
to hear the preacher and the sermon.
That might be the answer that we need.
But you need to remember in the days of this is,
when they're seeking the prophet,
it's not that they're just seeking preaching.
They don't have a completed Bible like we do, right?
The prophets of old were being moved by the Holy Ghost.
We have, I mean, this very book,
the book of Isaiah,
was not available to Hezekiah in his day.
In order for him to hear the words of God,
he'd need to get the prophet of God, Isaiah, right?
Verbally to hear from Isaiah,
what we can read in the scriptures.
And so, of course, another answer to your prayers
is going straight to the scriptures,
going straight to the Word of God.
You don't need to get Isaiah.
You say, oh man, it would be nice to have
Isaiah, a great prophet in those days,
to ask him questions.
It's all here.
Not just Isaiah, but you've got Jeremiah,
and you've got Ezekiel,
and you've got Jonah's writings,
and you've got even the New Testament,
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and,
you know, you've got Paul's epistles,
and you've got Peter's writings.
You've got all the answers
that God has ever needed to give
to people over history.
And you've got it all readily available
to you in your hands.
So when you're distressed here,
come to church, but when you're distressed,
pick up the Bible.
Read the Bible.
See if God will speak to you through His Word.
And verse number three says,
And they said unto him,
that's unto Isaiah,
Thus saith Hezekiah,
This day is a day of trouble,
and of rebuke, and of blasphemy.
For the children are come to the birth,
and there is not strength to bring forth.
That illustration,
the children are come to the birth,
and there's no strength to bring forth.
That's the idea of a mother giving birth,
and she's so exhausted, right?
Maybe she's gone through labor,
like, for so long,
and her body just can't do it anymore,
and she just can't push that baby out of the womb.
In that kind of scenario,
what would play out?
The death of the baby
and the death of the mother.
And so they're kind of illustrating,
man, this is just a day of death.
We're all going to die.
Like, you know,
the king of Assyria has threatened us,
and man, we're done for.
Like, we're done for Isaiah, okay?
And then it says here in verse number four,
It may be
that the Lord thy God
will hear the words of Rapture Key.
So they're saying,
maybe God heard what Rapture Key,
remember, he's like the general of the army,
of the Assyrian army.
Maybe God's heard what he had to say,
whom the king of Assyria,
his master,
hath set to reproach the living God,
and will reprove the words
which the Lord thy God hath heard.
Wherefore,
lift up thy prayer
for the remnant that is left.
At the same time,
Isaiah, can you please
pray for us, Isaiah?
We know you're a man of God.
We know you're a prophet of God.
We know that God speaks for you.
Can you pray for us?
Can you pray for the remnant
that remains in Jerusalem?
I like how they asked that question.
It may be that the Lord has,
will hear the words of Rapture Key.
Maybe he's heard those blasphemies.
Do you think God's heard them?
Of course he's heard them.
Of course he has.
You know, I'm going to,
I don't know, I might offend,
I always offend someone.
But anyway,
someone comes up to me,
Pastor, did you hear what happened?
You know, whatever.
At the Paris opening ceremony,
for example, right?
That's the most recent thing, right?
Pastor, have you heard
what this false prophet said?
Have you heard that blasphemy?
Have you heard those lies?
Sometimes,
but I don't really care.
I tell you why, because God's heard them.
God knows.
And we get fired up.
We get fired up when we hear blasphemy.
And I understand where you're coming from.
And they're asking this question,
maybe God's heard it.
And maybe by God hearing what they have to say,
he's going to respond.
And I'm just telling you straight out
that God hears every word ever spoken.
He knows every word you've ever spoken.
He knows every word that the enemies of God
have ever said
that's come out of their mouth.
And, you know, they're kind of asking this question.
Maybe God will hear it.
And we're going to keep going.
We're going to answer that more completely
as we continue in this chapter.
Let's keep going there.
Verse number six.
Actually, before I keep reading verse number six,
this is a good principle by King Hezekiah.
You know, it's not a bad thing
to go to another man and say,
can you pray for me?
You know?
And I've shared this before, right?
You know, if you've got a burden,
you've got a concern,
there's nothing wrong with you going before the church
and saying, church, can you please pray for my situation?
There's nothing wrong with you ringing me up
and saying, pastor, can you please pray?
Again, I don't need to know every detail.
If it's sin,
if it's something that you've done
that's contrary to God's will,
I don't need to know.
I'm not a Catholic priest.
You don't need to confess your sins.
Like, God knows your sins.
God knows what it is.
But if you just need me to pray for you,
for you to be strengthened
and to know the will of God
and to walk in His ways,
I'll pray for you.
I'll lift you up in prayer.
Again, I don't need to know every detail.
But I'm not the only one that needs to pray for you.
We can pray for one another, can't we?
We can pray for one another.
And of course, King Hezekiah here is like,
just out of desperation,
can you just get Isaiah to pray for us?
And so let's continue there in verse number six.
And Isaiah said unto them,
Thus shall you say unto your master,
so this is how you respond back to King Hezekiah,
Thus saith the Lord,
Be not afraid of the words that thou hast said,
or heard, sorry, that thou hast heard,
wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria
have blasphemed me.
Did God hear the blasphemy and the scene,
the blasphemy of God
during the Paris Olympic opening ceremony?
God says, what He says?
Don't be afraid of the words.
God says, don't worry about it.
God's heard it, right?
Don't be concerned about the blasphemies.
Verse number seven, this is how he responds,
Behold, I will send a blast upon him,
and he shall hear a rumor
and return to his own land,
and I will cause him to fall
by the sword of his own land.
So this is a prophecy that God gives Isaiah
that the king of Assyria is going to die
by a sword in his own land.
He's not going to die in battle against you guys.
He's going to go and die back in his own land,
back in Nineveh.
Now before I keep reading,
we're in the 37th chapter of Isaiah.
So what is the 37th book of the Bible?
Does anyone want to, or does anyone know?
Or have a guess?
Haggai, thank you brother.
Haggai, if you can.
Keep your finger there in Isaiah.
Let's go to Haggai.
Come with me to Haggai chapter two.
Now this language that God uses
isn't even that common in the Bible.
It doesn't appear a few times,
maybe eight times,
I looked it up,
as best as I looked it up,
maybe eight times,
when he said, Behold, I will send him a blast upon him.
A blast is kind of the idea of a strong wind, you know?
God's going to...
But that strong wind in this context
seems to be a rumor.
Something's going to distract
the king of Assyria with rumors
and he's going to appease you.
He's going to give you some space
for a period of time
so you're not like so worried, right?
But you know that term,
you know, God sending a blast,
it also appears in the book of Haggai.
Haggai chapter two and verse number 17.
God says, I smote you.
This is he speaking to the king of Judah.
I smote you with blasting.
So there it is again, that blast.
And we've milled you
and we've hailed in the labors of your hands.
Yet you turned not to me, sayeth the Lord.
So this is the southern king of Judah.
This is...
They've gone, you know, in their wicked ways.
They've turned against the Lord.
This is, you know, in future events
beyond the stories of Isaiah
that we're going through at the moment.
And once again, God is in that language
that he's blasting them.
But he uses illustration of like weather,
like milled you, hail,
you know, the labors of your hands.
So, you know, that hail is essentially going to
destroy all the crops of the field.
And keep your finger in Haggai
because I want to show you some other
interesting parallels with Isaiah 37.
So just keep your finger there as well.
We are going to come back to Haggai.
But let's go back to Isaiah 37 and verse number 8.
So Rabcheki returned.
So Rabcheki, kind of like that general of the army,
returned and found the king of Assyria
warring against Libnah.
For he had heard that he was departed from Lakish.
Alright, that might just go over your head,
but the king of Assyria had set up with the army
in Lakish, in a town in Judah,
as they were making threats toward Jerusalem
that we're going to wipe you out.
Okay?
God and Rabcheki,
he's the one that went to Jerusalem
to blaspheme against God.
And so as he's returning back to Lakish,
he realizes the king of Assyria, he's not even here.
The king of Assyria has gone to make war to another town
there in Libnah.
Okay, so I guess some of the people of that area
rose up, they rebelled against their
new, you know, masters, and so there's a new war.
And this seems to be
the rumor that God said he's going to send them.
Right? This seems to be the context.
It's not the weather necessarily, but rather
these rumors, you know, there are people in
Libnah raising up.
We need to go and subdue them
before we take over Jerusalem.
It's kind of like God is giving
Hezekiah time.
Just, you know, a breather, a breather, like,
you know, your friend has actually been distracted
to another war front elsewhere.
Let's continue there in verse number nine.
It says, and he heard concerning
Tehachah, king of Ethiopia,
he has come forth to make war with thee.
And when he heard it, he sent messages
to Hezekiah, a saint.
So another thing he's heard
is that the king of Ethiopia's
come in and raised himself up
to make war against you, king of Assyria.
So all of a sudden, like,
you know, his focus is on Jerusalem.
Now he's going, man, we've got to go back to
Libnah to take over that town again.
And then he's like, oh, now the king of Ethiopia's
out to get you, right?
And God said, you know, this is what he's sending them,
like this rumor, like these concerns,
and now he's kind of distracted.
He's not focused on Jerusalem anymore.
But before the king of Jerusalem leaves,
like before the king of Assyria leaves,
he leaves this message to king Hezekiah.
There at the end of verse number nine it says,
and when he heard it, he sent messages to Hezekiah, saying,
Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying,
Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee,
saying, Jerusalem shall not be given
into the hand of the king of Assyria.
So it's like the king of Assyria realizes
that it's God doing this.
So it tells king Hezekiah,
don't think for a moment that God's delivering you
at the moment, like we are distracted,
like we have lost focus on Jerusalem for a time period,
but don't let God deceive you.
We're coming back, you know,
we're going to take over Jerusalem.
And so it's really interesting
because the king of Assyria is actually recognizing
that it's God doing something here, right?
He just sees the hand of God here,
but he doesn't want Hezekiah to be encouraged
by what God is doing, rather he's trying to keep him down.
Don't worry, I'm going to wipe them out.
We'll deal with this,
but we're coming back to deal with you soon, king Hezekiah.
Let's continue there, verse number 10.
Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying,
Let not thy God in whom thou trustest.
Did I read that already?
Yeah, sorry, verse number 11.
Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done
to all lands by destroying them utterly,
and shalt thou be delivered?
You know, is God really going to deliver you?
You've seen we've conquered all these people,
all these lands, all these towns.
You really think God's going to deliver you.
Verse number 12.
Have the gods of the nations delivered them,
which my fathers have destroyed,
as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezaph,
and the tomb of Eden, which are in Telesah?
Where is the king of Hamath,
and the king of Arphad,
and the king of the city of Sepharvayim?
Hina, and Ivah,
and Hezekiah received a letter.
So that's how the message was sent by letter.
And Hezekiah received a letter from the hand of the messengers,
and read it.
So he's like, again, the king of Assyria
is trying to make Hezekiah unsettled.
I mean, God is already answering the prayers.
You see that?
He's already answering the prayers
that they've asked Isaiah to pray,
but the enemy doesn't want Hezekiah
to be encouraged by that.
And so again, Hezekiah's concern,
it says here in verse 14,
and Hezekiah, what's he doing?
Went up into the house of the Lord,
and spread it before the Lord,
and Hezekiah prayed
unto the Lord, saying.
So again, the concern's come.
But now he's got all those blasphemies.
Instead of the blasphemies,
you know, he's like the king of Assyria saying,
you know, your God's not going to deliver you.
You know, don't trust.
God's deceiving you.
We've defeated all the other gods.
Like we defeated all the other gods,
we're going to defeat your God as well.
But instead of it being now verbal,
now it's documented, right?
So King Hezekiah has this wonderful idea.
Well, I've got all these blasphemies documented.
I'm going to go to the house of God.
I'm going to spread it before the Lord.
So God, can you see the letter?
I'm going to show you what the letter is.
I don't know if it's a scroll.
I'm going to show you all the contents.
God, I'm going to show you all the blasphemies here,
and I'm going to go and pray before you
in the house of the Lord.
Again, another great response from Hezekiah, right?
I feel that he is getting encouraged by the Lord,
but he still is a little weak.
He says, I still need to go to church.
I still need to be there.
And instead of asking Isaiah to pray,
he says, now I'll pray.
Okay?
And I want you to also keep that in mind
because I do get regular requests,
Pastor, can you pray for me?
Okay?
But you also need to pray yourself.
Okay?
Yes, I'll pray for you.
Yes, that's my responsibility as a pastor.
But I also, and anytime someone asks me,
I say, but you've got to pray.
Like, it's not like I'm special,
or God can hear me better than he can hear you.
No, we're all, we've all been made priests and kings,
according to the Bible.
Like, you know, I do have the office of a pastor in the church,
but in reality, at the end of the day,
we're all brothers and sisters in the Lord.
We're all under the Lord God.
You know, I'm not of a greater value to God
than what you are.
You know, you need to also have the time
where you go before God and bring your concerns before him.
You know, for Hezekiah, it's this blasphemy,
these threats, these concerns that are worrying him.
And brethren, we need to do the same.
Like, you know, whatever is that's burdening your heart tonight
and whatever is that's, you know,
taking up your mind, your fears and your concerns,
you need to take them before you, like it is,
and just bring it before God and say,
God, have a look at all these issues that bother me.
Let me show you exactly what it is.
Sometimes I have people call me because they need to vent,
and I understand the need to vent.
But, like, I can't really solve it for you, though.
You know what I mean?
Like, God can, though.
You know, I say just vent to God.
Vent to God.
Because I'm not a very good listener.
Like, I hear you, but I don't really listen.
It's just one of my, you know,
it's maybe all the same, though.
I think men wear kind of like this.
Sometimes people talk,
and it kind of goes over my head a little bit.
I can hear the venting, I can see the frustration,
but I don't really know the solution.
I don't know necessarily how to give you good advice,
but I know God can.
Like, I know God can.
You know, I know he hears it.
He knows your problems.
He knows your fears.
He knows the blasphemies.
He knows what happened at the Paris Olympics ceremony.
And every other time people blaspheme the Lord God.
God knows it all.
And we need to be able to just bring it before him
and say, God, you see it all.
What really stood out to me in this chapter,
it's something that I don't pray this way.
I started to realize,
I mean, I've seen this in the Bible,
but I just never really paid attention to it
until like tonight, really,
is how Hezekiah prays.
Because if this was me,
I'd pray like this.
God, I'm worried.
You know, we're concerned about, you know,
the Assyrian army.
Man, they wiped out the northern kingdom.
I mean, they're wiping out all these villages
and towns and our vineyards.
They're taking, you know, our crops away.
They're taking the best into their land, Lord,
and I'm worried.
You know, I'm the king,
and people are looking up to me
for encouragement and strength,
but God, I didn't even have strength myself.
And I can kind of envision me
praying a prayer like that
and say, God, can you strengthen me?
We're going to read how Hezekiah prays
and the way he packages.
And of course he's feeling all those things
and he expresses those things,
but the way he packages that prayer is different.
And I want you to notice how it is.
Let's continue then, verse number 16.
This is the prayer that Hezekiah makes to God.
He says,
O Lord of hosts, God of Israel,
that dwellest between the cherubims,
thou art the God,
even thou alone.
Of all the kingdoms of the earth,
thou hast made heaven and earth.
So he starts just by glorifying God, right?
Lifts up God for who He is.
Then he says,
Incline thine, verse number 17,
Incline thine ear, O Lord, in ear.
Open thine eyes, O Lord, and see,
and hear all the words of Sennacherib,
which have sent to reproach the living God.
It's quite interesting.
That's where I started to pick up,
hold on, the way he says this is interesting.
Instead of saying,
you know, these words are upsetting me, God.
These words are giving me fears.
He says, these words of Sennacherib
are reproach to you.
Lord, it's an offense to you, God.
And I don't really pray like that, you know?
I'll just be honest.
It's often how it affects me
or how it affects my family
or how it affects my brethren at church,
but I don't often pray and tell God
how this affects Him.
And that's what King Hezekiah is doing here.
He continues in verse number 18.
Of a truth, Lord,
the kings of Assyria have laid waste
all the nations and their countries.
So, look, what they're threatening,
what they've done is actually true.
They are powerful.
Okay?
They have overcome all these other lands.
Verse number 19.
And have cast their gods into the fire,
for they were no gods,
but the work of men's hands,
wood and stone,
wherefore they have destroyed them.
Now, therefore, O Lord, our God,
save us from His hand,
that all the kingdoms of the earth may know
that Thou art the Lord, even Thou only.
Amen.
What a prayer.
Praise God.
So, look, yeah, he does express,
can you save us, Lord?
But he says, but I want them to know
that you're the only true God.
You're not like these idols
that are the work of man's hands.
You're not like these false gods
that the king of Assyria keeps, you know,
boasting that he defeated.
You know, you are the true God.
And so, it's quite interesting the way,
if you can, keep your finger there
and come with me to Exodus 32.
Come with me to Exodus 32.
This prayer reminds me of another prayer
that we're going to look at in Exodus 32.
But what, the way Hezekiah
is packaging this prayer
is he's telling God,
look, they've reproached you.
They've offended you.
Look, they're making you out
to be in a bad light, God.
They're bringing you down
to the level of false gods and idols.
But they need to know who you really are.
And I thought, wow, what a prayer.
Like, that's a different way of praying.
Like, could you honestly say
that's how I pray, Pastor?
It's probably not.
Like, if we're facing persecution,
maybe you're being hated
for the name of Christ's sake.
You know, I often say,
well, Lord, just protect me, defend me,
you know, take vengeance on my enemy.
Nothing wrong with any of that.
But how often do I say,
by God, you know, by their lies
and by their persecution
and by their false accusations, Lord,
it actually puts a stain
on your name, Lord.
And so, Lord, can you solve this issue
so your name can no longer
be stained by these...
Like, I'm just thinking,
do I pray like that?
No, I don't.
Maybe I should.
And I want to show you
another reference here
in Exodus 32, please, Exodus 32.
And this is, of course,
the story of Moses
when he goes up to Mount Sinai.
He's gone for 40 days.
And he comes back
and what have the Israelites done?
They've built a golden calf,
a false god, an idol,
and they're dancing around
and, you know,
and they've turned their backs
against God.
Such a shame.
And it says in Exodus 32,
verse number 10,
God says this.
Now, therefore, let me alone,
God's telling Moses,
look, like, leave me alone, okay,
that my wrath may wax hot
against them
and that I may consume them
and I will make of thee
a great nation.
God says, Moses, step aside.
I don't want you to get hurt here.
Move away.
I'm so angry
I'm going to wipe out these Israelites.
He's just delivered them
out of Egypt.
I heard a pastor once say,
oh, God was just
making an empty threat.
You know, he was just testing
how Moses would react to that.
I don't believe that.
I don't believe God lies.
He's saying,
that's what he says.
That's what he wants.
He's so angry at these people.
And look how Moses responds
in verse number 11.
And Moses besought
the Lord his God and said,
Lord, why doth thy wrath
wax hot against thy people,
which thou hast brought forth
out of the land of Egypt
with great power
and with a mighty hand?
Wherefore should the Egyptians
speak and say,
for mischief did he bring them out
to slay them in the mountains
and to consume them
from the face of the earth.
Turn from thy fierce wrath
and repent of this evil
against thy people.
Remember Abraham, Isaac,
and Israel, thy servants,
to whom thou swearest
by thine own self
and said unto them,
I will multiply your seed
as the stars of heaven
and all this land
that I have spoken of
will I give unto your seed
and they shall inherit forever.
And the Lord repented
of the evil which he thought
to do unto his people.
Moses again packages that prayer
in a very strange,
not strange,
an interesting way.
Lord, if you do this,
what are the Egyptians
going to say about you?
That you took them out of Egypt
and then you killed them
in the wilderness?
Like, what kind of testimony,
Lord, is that going
to leave your name?
We don't want our enemies
to burst against you
in that way, Lord.
And of course, God repents
from doing that action.
And realize, man,
God really comes through.
When you're able to point God
and say, God, actually,
you're not just me
and my concerns
and me, me, me
and my needs,
but also, Lord,
the way it looks for you.
You know, the way it looks
for our church, maybe.
You know, the way it looks
for us as believers
and Christians and,
Lord, we want to shine
as lights, Lord,
we can't have our testimony
destroyed by these lies
and accusations
and blasphemies that come,
Lord, our way.
And so the kind of prayer
that like if that Paris thing,
opening ceremony thing
that bothers you,
I wish I didn't even know about it,
to be honest with you,
but anyway,
because God knows, right?
But if that bothers you,
it's like,
God, can you take out
these wicked people
for your name's sake?
Maybe it shouldn't bother me,
Lord, as much as it does
because I know you know about it,
I'll just leave it
in your hands, Lord,
but they've blasphemed you,
they've blasphemed Christ.
Lord, we can't allow that
to be, you know,
promoted here in the world.
Lord, can you sort it out?
Like praying that kind of prayer
instead of,
Lord, this bothers me
and I don't know,
I don't know.
I'm just trying to see,
wow, the way these men
sort of package a prayer
and they try to express to God
how that causes God
to be viewed in a strange light
if we just allow these words
and these actions to continue.
And these,
every time that this
comes up like that,
God answers that prayer
in a very powerful way.
So I don't know.
Again, it's not really
something I really
thought about much,
how I pray.
It's often me, me, me,
and others, others, others,
and me, me, me,
my family, my church,
my brethren,
but how often am I actually
praying kind of on behalf of God?
Like for your sake, Lord,
can you do this
because it'll be better
for you overall
and our work of the kingdom
that we're doing here
on the earth.
I don't know.
Does that challenge you
how you pray a little bit?
You know,
a title for the sermon,
lift up your prayer,
lift up your prayer.
Maybe our prayers
should be a little bit
more thoughtful
about or toward God
rather than just our needs,
our personal needs
all the time.
Let's continue there
in verse number 21.
Verse number 21.
So Hezekiah's
finished his prayer
and then God responds
through Isaiah once again
in verse number 21.
Then Isaiah,
the son of Amos,
sent unto Hezekiah saying,
Thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
whereas thou has prayed to me
against Sennacherib,
king of Assyria.
This is the word
which the Lord has spoken
concerning him.
So this is what God
has to say about
the king of Sennacherib.
And I don't know,
this is like,
we get a different view
of God sometimes here.
He said,
this is what God says,
the virgin,
the daughter of Zion,
hath despised thee
and laughed thee to scorn.
The daughter of Jerusalem
hath shaken her head at thee.
So the king of Assyria,
he's putting on this big show,
we're going to wipe you guys out,
we're going to lay siege
of Jerusalem,
just surrender,
you know,
we've defeated all these other people.
God's response is,
the virgins,
the young ladies
of the city
are laughing at you.
You know, king of Assyria.
The girls,
the little girls
are laughing at you.
Like this is how God,
this is how God sees it.
And again,
this must be true.
There must be faithful
young ladies,
young virgins
in the city
that are hearing
the threats of the king
of Assyria
and they're going,
ha, what an idiot.
We've got God on our side.
And they're just,
they're just laughing
at the most powerful king
on the earth at that time,
mocking him.
That's how God responds.
The girls are laughing at you.
King Sennacherib.
And again,
that's kind of like
a bit of a rebuke
toward Hezekiah
because Hezekiah
and all the men
were worried, right?
The young girls,
they don't believe
that's ever going to happen.
They think it's a,
you're a joke to them.
I mean,
what a response from God.
Like that's,
that's a very classy response,
right,
just scorning
and mocking
King Sennacherib.
You know,
the young ladies
are not taking him seriously.
Verse 123.
Whom hast thou reproached
and blasphemed?
And against whom
hast thou exalted
thy voice
and lifted up
thine eyes on I,
even against
the Holy One of Israel?
God's saying,
yeah, you have.
You've blasphemed me,
the Holy One of Israel.
By thy servants
hast thou reproached the Lord
and hast said,
now God's going
to repeat everything
that the king
of Assyria has said,
and hast said,
by the multitude
of my chariots
am I come up
to the height
of the mountains,
to the sides of Lebanon,
and I will cut down
the tall cedars thereof,
and the choice fir trees thereof,
and I will enter
into the heights
of his border
and the forests
of his karmel.
God is repeating
the words
of King Sennacherib.
I have digged
and drunk water.
This is, again,
King Sennacherib.
See these words.
God's responding.
I've heard those words.
And with the sole
of my feet
have I dried up
all the rivers
of the besieged places.
King Sennacherib
has said that,
if I want to drink water
I'll take water
where I want
and I'll dry up
whatever rivers I want.
Just boasting
of his strength,
boasting of his power.
Verse number 26.
Has thou not heard
long ago
how I have done it,
and of ancient times
that I have formed it?
Now have I brought it
to pass,
that thou shouldst be
to lay waste
defence cities
into ruinous heaps.
Therefore,
their inhabitants
were of a small power.
They were dismayed
and confounded.
They were
as the grass
and as the green herb
as the grass
on the house tops
and as corn blasted
before it be grown up.
God is showing here
that he has heard
every boasting threat
of King Sennacherib.
Everything.
God retells it
word for word.
And I don't know if these
are all words
contained in the letter.
I don't know if these
were all words
that were said vocally
or maybe these were
even words that
King Sennacherib
said within himself
within his own heart.
But God says
I've heard it all.
I've seen it all.
And I just read to you
quickly from Matthew 12.36.
These are the words of Jesus.
But I say unto you
that every idle word
that men shall speak
they shall give
account thereof
in the day of judgement.
You say does that
include us, pastor?
No.
It can't be every word
because many of our words
have been sinful words.
And our sins have
already been paid for
by Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ here
in the context of
speaking about those
that have rejected him
as the Messiah
says every word
every time you
spoke against me
you know every time
you denied me
as the Messiah
every time you
mocked my works
and every time
you mocked God
you're going to have
to give an account
to God for
every idle word.
Idle word.
The idle is when
you're not really
doing anything.
It's kind of like
you're just going
about your day
you're just sitting
on the couch
and you're just
saying stupid things.
God says all those
words have to be
accounted for.
Wow.
Can you imagine?
Like people that
just blaspheme God
openly you know
that use his name
almost like a cuss word
instead of you know
instead of using profanity
they use the name
of God as you know
as a cuss word.
You know God says
you're going to
have to answer for that.
You know God's going
to assume in similar
to what he's doing
with King Sennacherib
he's going to tell you
exactly all the words
you've said.
Man could you imagine
how you're going to
stand before you know
an unsaved person
standing before that
great white throne
judgment of God
having all of your sins
you know on display
I don't know how
he's going to display that.
The Bible says that
he's opened the books
and you're going to be
judged by your works
not just judged by
your works but
judged by your words.
Man who is able
to stand before God
in such a way?
So I pass it,
did you hear this?
Did you see that?
Do I need to know brother?
Because God knows it all
and they're going to
have to be standing
before the judgment seat
of Christ anyway
not just me,
the great white throne
judgment one day
and they're going to
have to give an account
for every idle word anyway.
It's all being
recorded by God.
It's all written
in his books.
I don't need to really
know about every
single blasphemy
and every single issue
that people say.
I don't even need
to even hear
what people say about me.
If someone criticizes me
or attacks me
or attacks blessed
or new life of the church,
did you hear about it?
Who cares?
As long as we're right
before God,
we're serving him,
we have a clear conscience,
we're doing the best we can
with what God has given us,
we're serving him faithfully.
If people criticize us,
who cares?
And if you're bothered that much,
you don't need to come to me,
just take it to God
like King Hezekiah did.
Lay it all out before God
and say,
God, for your name's sake
can you deal with this problem?
I'm encouraged by that myself.
That's why I like,
I don't know,
I think,
sometimes I think
I'm a bit of a strange person
but I don't let things
bother me that much.
Like honestly,
even when people
attack me directly,
God knows.
I don't need
to always defend myself.
I don't need
to always respond
because I can't be bothered
when I know
that I'm just doing
the best I can
with what I've got,
with what God has given me.
And I'm trying
to faithfully serve him
and honor him
and do the best I can
to preach you God's word.
At the end of the day,
someone criticizes me,
it's like,
well, okay,
maybe I deserve criticism
because I'm just a man.
By the end of the day,
the Lord knows.
The Lord knows
if I'm faithfully serving him.
The Lord knows
if your criticism
is legit or not
but I'm not going
to waste my time on it.
I will leave it with God.
God hears every blasphemy.
God hears every attack.
God hears every accusation
that has ever been
thrown toward you
for being a believer,
thrown toward me,
thrown toward this church
or New Life Baptist Church.
God sees it all.
He hears it all
and he's going to respond
in his due time
how he wants.
I don't know about you.
Again, it just gives me
so much peace.
It gives me peace
to sort of battle everything,
having to jump on Facebook
and respond to everything
that comes up
and, you know,
jump on every chat group
and, oh, this guy
is a false prophet
and I respond,
got to respond,
I need everyone to hear
what I have to say.
God's heard it.
God's going to deal with it.
God will send a blast
in his time
how he needs to.
I mean,
he's the greatest judge
of all.
And if it bothers you,
take it to God.
Go off into God.
All right?
King Hezekiah's done that
and then God's speaking
and responding
through the words
of Isaiah here.
So, um,
well, let's keep going there.
Verse number 28.
I also love these words
from God.
I love the words
that he said,
you know,
even the young girls
laugh at you.
Laugh at you.
They mock you.
They don't take you seriously.
I love that.
But I also love
what he says here.
Verse number 28.
God says to the king
of Assyria,
but I know thy abode.
You know how we would say
that today?
I know where you live.
Have you ever had
someone ever say that
to you that didn't like you?
I know where you live.
Like, it's a fret.
I know thy abode
and thy going out
and thy coming in.
It's like he's got
a drone
or a spy drone
that follows this terrorist, right?
I know your house.
I know your family.
I know when you get out
and you go somewhere
and when you come back.
I know where you've gone
and I know where you've been.
What a fret,
back to King Zachary, right?
I know thy abode
and thy going out
and thy coming in
and thy rage against me.
He goes,
I even know how angry
you are against me.
Boy, just leave it with God.
He's got it under control,
doesn't he?
Verse number 29.
Because thy rage,
because thy rage against me
and thy torment
is come up into mine ears,
therefore will I put my hook
in thy nose
and my bridle in thy lips.
He goes,
I'm going to shut you up
and close your mouth.
I'm going to put a hook,
kind of like, you know,
a fish in the hook
in the fish's mouth.
He says,
I'm going to put it
in your nose
and I will turn thee back
by the way
by which thou camest.
It's like you're going
to have no control.
I've got you.
I'm going to shut you up
and I'm going to take you
exactly back where you came from.
That's a powerful response
from God.
You know, if I was king
I'd be like,
yeah, go God right now.
We're good now.
It's all going to be good now,
you know, moving forward.
Verse number 30 now.
Isaiah is now,
so that's how God felt
toward King Sennacherib,
the words for him.
And now, verse number 30,
our words to King Hezekiah.
And this shall be a sign unto thee.
So King Hezekiah,
this is the sign
you're going to get.
Ye shall eat this year
such as groweth of itself,
and the second year
that which springeth of the same,
and in the third year
sow ye and reap
and plant vineyards
and eat the fruit thereof.
So, because you know,
the threat is siege.
And in a siege
causes famine.
You can't get food in, right?
You can't get water in.
God's saying,
look, once the king
of Assyria is gone,
you're going to have enough food,
and there's going to be enough food
for everybody,
which is already on the land.
Like, even though they,
the Assyrians,
they harvested,
they took the best of the crops,
there's still enough leftovers
that they're going to be able
to live on, okay?
That's in that year
that they're in currently.
And then next year,
even what was left,
there's still going to be more
that brings forth,
that springs forth.
There's still seeds
that are budding, right?
And you're going to be able
to eat of that.
You guys are going to be fine.
You're not going to go hungry.
It's not going to cause
a famine on the land.
And this is by the third year,
you'll be able to just get back
to regular farming,
sowing,
and you're back to your
regular routine of life, okay?
By year three,
it's all going to be settled.
It's going to be like
the king of Assyria
was never here, all right?
So there's a great promise
that King Hezekiah
receives there.
It's all going back
to regular routine
by the third year.
Verse 31.
And the remnants that is escaped
of the house of Judah
shall again take roots downward
and bear fruit upward.
So there are people
that have ran away,
that escaped
when the king of Assyria came.
God is saying that
remnants is also going
to return back
and they're going to start
planting their vineyards
and their farms, okay?
Verse number 32.
For out of Jerusalem
shall go forth for remnants
and they that escaped
out of Mount Zion,
the zeal of the Lord
of hosts shall do this.
So God is again telling them,
look, everyone that ran away,
everyone that fled out of fear,
they're all going to come back
to their houses,
back to their lands,
back to their farms
and they're going to start
all growing crops once again.
All right, keep your finger there.
Come back with me
to Haggai chapter 1, please.
Haggai chapter 1 and verse number 14.
Haggai chapter 1, verse number 14.
It says here
And the Lord stirred up
the spirit of Zerubbabel,
the son of Sheltiel,
governor of Judah,
and the spirit of Joshua,
the son of Josedek,
the high priest,
and the spirit of all
the remnants of the people.
And they came and did
the work in the house
of the Lord of hosts,
their God.
This is telling us
by the time where,
I'm showing you
a similar language here,
where God's speaking
of the remnant.
There's a remnant that fled,
okay, but this context
is when the,
again, future events
is about 100 years later
after the events
we're reading about now,
when, well, 100 years
they were taken into captivity
by Babylon.
Then 70 years later,
that remnant that remained
were brought back
into the land, okay.
And so it's using
that same language
as they're coming
back to the land,
but instead of coming
back to the land
just to grow crops
and farming,
they're coming back
to the land to rebuild
the house of the Lord,
to rebuild the temple
because don't forget
the king of Babylon,
king Nebuchadnezzar,
ended up destroying the,
setting on fire
the house of the Lord
and so they were coming back
as a remnant,
coming back to rebuild
the house of the Lord.
Back to Isaiah, please.
Isaiah 37, verse number 33.
Thank you for your patience.
I know it's quite a long chapter.
There's a lot of information here.
But verse number 33 says,
Therefore, thus saith the Lord
concerning the king of Assyria,
He shall not come into this city,
nor shoot an arrow there,
nor come before it with shields,
nor cast a bank against it.
So God is promising Hezekiah,
they're not going to even
come into the city.
They're not even going to be able
to shoot an arrow.
They're not even going to be
close enough where they can
cause damage even by an arrow.
Verse number 34.
By the way he came,
by the same shall he return,
and shall not come into this city,
saith the Lord.
For I will defend this city
and save it for mine own sake,
and for my servant David's sake.
Do you see that response?
Verse number 35.
For I will defend this city
to save it for mine own sake.
It's like that answer to prayer
where King Hezekiah says,
Look, this is not good.
They're blaspheming you.
God says, Well, I'll answer
the prayer for my sake.
Wow, I just think, man,
that's so interesting.
Because again, it's like,
I'm kind of having this sort of,
I'm kind of learning
as I'm teaching you yourselves.
I often pray for my sake,
or again, my family's sake,
or my church's sake,
or my brethren's sake.
I don't often think about
for God's sake.
Again, that same concept
that if we just allow,
these attacks continue,
then it's going to look bad
on Christianity.
It's going to look bad
on Baptists.
It's going to look bad
on blessed hope.
It's going to look bad
on your name, Lord.
Can you help us?
Can you save us?
Can you deliver us?
And God says, Hey,
for my sake, I will.
Wow, I think that's a really
powerful prayer to make.
It's like you're praying
on behalf of God.
Like, you know, when you guys
ask me to pray for you,
I'm praying on your behalf.
It's almost like
King Hezekiah and Moses
at times is praying
on God's behalf.
Like, they're looking out
for God's best.
It's like, well,
I guess we don't think about it
because we don't really need to.
We don't feel like we need to
because, I mean,
God is all powerful.
But I think what we see there
is the heart of a man
who loves the Lord
that just doesn't want
God's name to be, you know,
destroyed or God's name
to be blasphemed,
to be murdered.
Say, Lord, for your sake,
can you answer these prayers?
It reminds me a lot
of Christ, right?
When he says,
not my will be done,
but thy will be done.
It's that same concept.
Your will, Lord.
Your sake, your will.
And we know that if we ask,
according to God's will,
those prayers will be answered.
A hundred percent,
if it's according to God's will.
Verse number 36.
And this is the miracle
that takes place.
Man, if I was writing the Bible,
I would make verse number 36
like a whole chapter.
Like, if this was
a Hollywood production,
Hollywood movie, you know,
the action scene would take up
like a third,
the last third of the movie,
you know, and that's the one
that everyone's going to be
talking about.
Like, it was a slow start.
We were introduced
to the characters.
We got to know the enemies
and we got to see how,
you know, the problems
they were causing
and then we get to the battle
and that battle's going to last
for like half an hour
and that's like the action scene
and, you know,
all the computer graphics,
you know,
all the budget
of the Hollywood movie
is going to go
toward the action scene
but God just takes one verse
of the whole chapter
to tell us about the action scene.
And verse number 36.
And the angel of the Lord
went forth and smote
in the camp of the Assyrians
and fourscore and five thousand.
A score is 20
so fourscore's 80.
This is 185,000.
And when they arose
early in the morning,
behold, they were all
dead corpses.
And that's it.
Like that one verse.
185,000 dead Assyrian soldiers.
God says one of his angels
into the camp at night
and he just starts,
man, that's the action scene.
Like that's like,
that's why you got to watch
that movie, right,
for the action scene.
It's like,
I'll give you one verse.
I think it just shows us like,
God's just showing us
like it's in his hands.
It's under control.
Don't worry about it.
It's going to happen.
The prayer's going to be answered.
Like he doesn't have to elaborate
exactly how he's going to do it.
He just does it.
Okay, and in this sense
it's a miracle.
Just a miracle, right?
A spiritual being comes
and just wipes out 185,000
Assyrian soldiers.
Verse number 37.
So Sennacherib,
king of Assyria, departed.
And, because remember
he was distracted by
all the other battles
that he thought was going on.
So he wasn't actually
in that location.
I assume if he was
at that location
he probably would have died
amongst all those other soldiers.
So Sennacherib,
king of Assyria, departed
and went and returned
and dwelt at Nineveh.
Again, Nineveh's the
city of Assyria.
And, I know you've got a finger there.
If you can, come with me
to Haggai chapter 2
verse number 22 if you can.
Haggai chapter 2
verse number 22.
Haggai 2.22 reads
And I will overthrow
the throne of kingdoms
These are the words of God.
And I will overthrow
the throne of kingdoms
And I will destroy
the strength of the
kingdoms of the heathen
And I will overthrow
the chariots
and those that ride in them
And the horses
and their riders
shall come down
everyone by the sword
of his brother.
We know there were horses
cause remember the last
chapter they were offering
to send them,
I think it was 2000 horses
for them to come
and surrender to
the king of Assyria.
You know, what God
has shown us here
in the book of Haggai
is that he can wipe out
the most powerful armies
on the planet.
I mean, man,
you blaspheme against
God, you raise yourself
up prideful.
I mean, God may very well
allow that nation,
that army to briefly
do that.
But for his name's sake,
when they blaspheme
against him or they're
full of pride,
God's going to
wipe them out.
You know.
And look,
we read these stories
and the world
hasn't really changed.
There's nothing new
under the sun.
There's going to be
constant wars,
there's going to be
constant men that
rise up full of pride
and they're going to
think they're gods
themselves.
This is just the nature
of sinful, wicked man.
You know.
And we know that
the ultimately,
the pinnacle of all this
is going to be the
antichrist who's
going to claim to be God,
to be a resurrected God,
to be the saviour
of the world.
And even that very moment
when he finally defeats
that mystery Babylon,
Jesus Christ comes down
and wipes him out.
Like these wicked nations,
these wicked kings,
they never rule
really in peace.
They never achieve
their personal goals.
God always brings them down.
You know.
And this is just something,
until Christ returns,
this is something that's
just going to continue
to play out for history
over and over again.
But back to Isaiah 37,
verse number 38.
And it came to pass,
as he,
that's the king of Assyria,
was worshiping in the house
of Nisrosh,
Nisroth, his god,
that Adrammelech
and Shariza,
his sons,
smote him with the sword.
And they escaped
into the land of Aramea.
And Isa had on,
his son reigned in his stead.
So even though
the king of Assyria
seemingly got away,
once he returned back,
which was a promise
that he'll die by sword
in his land,
not only did he die,
not only was that prophecy fulfilled,
but he died by the hands
of his own children.
That's crazy.
Like that's why I went,
wow.
Like what a judgment of God
to fall upon this king.
And then another one
of his son's rules
in his stead.
Anyway,
the title for the sermon
tonight was,
thank you for your patience,
a long one there,
Lift Up Your Prayer
was the title
for the sermon tonight.
And brethren,
whatever it is
that is on your heart,
whatever it is
that's burdening you,
whether it's an enemy
causing you distress,
false accusations,
lies towards you,
you know, attacks,
just all the burdens,
maybe sicknesses,
maybe financial woes,
maybe relationship issues,
whatever it is
that's burdening your heart,
why don't you take it
to God?
My King Hezekiah did.
And feel free
to ask your brethren
to pray on your behalf.
Feel free to contact me
in your time
if you want,
some private time
to contact me,
say, pastor,
can you pray for me?
Even if you don't
have time to call me,
send me a text message.
Pastor, I'm going
through some hardships
at the moment,
could you lift my name
up in prayer?
And I will,
I will pray for you.
I used to,
in the past,
when I first became a pastor,
yep,
I'll get to it
later in the day
and then I forget.
My practice now is,
as soon as someone
messages me
or contacts me in the past,
can you pray for me?
I just stop everything
I'm doing.
Before I forget, right?
Before life gets busy,
I'm like,
Lord, you know,
brother so and so
or sister so and so
has these concerns.
Can you please answer?
Can you please help them?
Can you please guide them
in this time of difficulty?
Our Lord God answers prayers.
And you know what?
When you take that prayer
to God,
just leave it.
He knows.
Every word that's been said
against you,
every word that's been
said against him,
he knows every Facebook post
that's ever been posted
against him.
The Lord knows it all.
We don't need to get
worried and concerned
and always share it around.
Billy, can you believe this?
Can you believe that?
There's so many false prophets
or so many lies,
so many accusations.
I don't want to fill my head
with all this gossip
and nonsense
and blasphemies.
I can't contain it all.
God can contain it all.
I'd just rather,
you know,
think on peaceful things.
I'd rather think about
the things of God
and how we can continue
to serve him and his kingdom
and what blessed help
Baptist Church can do
in the future
to further his work
and walk in his ways.
I want to give my focus
and attention on those things
rather than every little issue
that pops up in this world.
Alright,
lift up your prayers
entitled for the sermon tonight.
Let's pray.